Media Contact:
Eliza Papazian, Public Information Officer

City of Glendale Declares Local State of Emergency and Issues Emergency Order for Temporary Business Closures to Slow the Spread of COVID-19

Glendale, CA – On March 16, 2020, the City of Glendale issued a local emergency proclamation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to a number of measures already in place across the City to protect members of the public from risk of contracting the virus. Today, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a news release that confirms two cases of COVID-19 in the City of Glendale. Our precautions over the past weeks and what we do over the next few days and weeks will determine how well we weather this emergency.

Following the emergency proclamation, the City’s Emergency Operations Center will be activated. In addition to declaring a local emergency, effective March 17, 2020, the City of Glendale issued a supplement to the local emergency proclamation that orders temporary business closures to slow the spread of COVID-19. These include:

• All bars, banquet halls, and nightclubs in the City of Glendale that do not serve food shall be closed to the public.
• Any bars, banquet halls, or nightclubs in the City of Glendale that serve food may remain open only for purposes of continuing to prepare and offer food to customers via delivery service or to be picked up. Dine-in food service is prohibited.
• All restaurants and retail food facilities in the City of Glendale shall be prohibited from serving food for consumption on premises. Restaurants and retail food facilities may continue to operate for purposes of preparing and offering food to customers via delivery service, to be picked up or for drive-thru. For those establishments offering food pick-up options, proprietors are directed to establish social distancing practices for those patrons in the queue for pick-up.
• All movie theaters, live performance venues, bowling alleys, arcades, and similar entertainment establishments shall be closed to the public.
• All gyms and fitness centers shall be closed to the public.
• The following are exempt from this Order:
  • Cafeterias, commissaries, and restaurants located within hospitals, nursing homes, or similar facilities;
  • Grocery stores;
  • Pharmacies;
  • Food banks; and
  • Farmer’s Markets that do not provide for sit down dining and don’t have spaces that are likely to confine 50 people or more in a single space.
• Trucks and other vehicles engaged in the delivery of grocery items to grocery stores, when such items are to be made available for sale to the public, are hereby exempt from having to comply with any City rules and regulations that limit the hours for such deliveries.

These local orders follow the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s order today for all 88 cities and unincorporated communities throughout Los Angeles County, to include Glendale.

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